Cry on My Shoulder
by melicitysmoak
Summary: "It wasn't a bad dream that woke him... What had so rudely interrupted his much-needed sleep was the incessant, annoying crying of a child." Oliver's plan was to knock on his neighbor's door and give her a piece of his mind, but when meets the pretty blonde that had recently moved in with her little girl, he soon decided that he didn't mind being jet-lagged and sleep-deprived.
1. Chapter 1: Ellie cries

**Cry on My Shoulder**

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 **This is what happens when your next-door neighbor's infant cries early in the morning, when you're trying to have a nice, quiet breakfast on a weekend. That was my prompt, and this was what I came up with. Hope you like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or its characters.**

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 **Chapter 1: ELLIE CRIES**

Oliver woke up with a start and looked at the digital clock on his bedside table. It was half-past 1 a.m.

It wasn't a bad dream that woke him. He'd been sleeping like a log since he came home to his studio-type condo unit. He hadn't even bothered to have dinner because he was just so, so tired and sleepy after arriving from the airport in the early afternoon and heading straight to Queen Consolidated for a Board meeting that his father obliged him to attend so that he could present to them how the external audit of QC's Russian subsidiary had gone during his three weeks stay in Moscow. He had thought about taking a bath and soaking in a tub of nice, warm water with relaxing bath salts, but no. After stripping down to his boxers, he had just flopped down onto his queen-sized bed and dozed off.

What had so rudely interrupted his much-needed sleep was the incessant, annoying crying of a child. It was more like an intermittent screaming or shrieking, actually, and it sounded like it was coming from an infant – a very disturbed infant. Since when had there been an infant living on his floor? The Mastersons had already moved out a month ago, and their only child hadn't been younger than seven.

That's when it clicked. He remembered that when John Diggle, his good friend and head of the building's security, had greeted him at the lobby and welcomed him back, John had told him that a new neighbor had moved in to the unit beside his that the Mastersons had vacated. John did say that the new neighbor at 1108 was a young woman with a little girl that couldn't be older than two.

Oliver tried to go back to sleep. He even tried to cover his head with a pillow. But the baby girl next door wouldn't stop screaming, and the wall separating them just wasn't thick enough. He could hear her mother trying to shush her and soothe her with words he couldn't really make out, because anything she said was just drowned out by the baby's ear-piercing cries.

"Oh please, for crying out loud," Oliver muttered with gritted teeth, tossing and turning on his bed for the nth time.

When the struggle kept on for more than thirty minutes, he decided it was useless to fight a losing battle. He groaned, got up from bed, and washed his face in the bathroom. He put on a pair of navy sweat pants and a plain white undershirt. He was going to knock on the door of his new neighbor and give her a piece of his mind. Politely. That was plan A – to ask nicely that she do something about her daughter's crying as neighbors were trying to get some sleep. Plan B was to demand it, if she would prove to be unreasonable or indifferent, or else he was going to call security. Plan C, which was for if the new neighbor looked like she was some crazy psycho who was mistreating her daughter, was to play it cool and then go back to his unit to call the police.

He hadn't realized he was already coming up with Plan D while waiting for the neighbor to open her door until it actually cracked open. Through the small opening, just above the chain, he could barely see a woman's face. He could clearly see that she wore glasses, though.

"Yes?" the woman asked, wondering who was calling on her at this time.

"Uh, hi. My name is Oliver, and I'm from next door. 1110. I… uhm… I don't know if you realize what time it is, but I… I was wondering if there was something you could do to keep the baby's crying down?" He was trying to be as polite as possible. He and his new neighbor hadn't been properly introduced before this, and he didn't want them starting off on the wrong footing. But he just had to get some sleep. After all, Moscow was 10 hours ahead, so he was dealing with a really bad case of jetlag. That was all he was asking for.

"Oh, believe me, if there was something more I could do, I'd do it," the blonde woman answered. "I've tried everything to get her to stop, but I guess it's just one of those days. Or nights. I really can't tell right now. It's still dark, though, but last time I checked it was already past midnight. She really gets cranky when she's not feeling well. Wouldn't you be? I mean, I would be. I've done everything I know to do to calm her down, but I guess-"

Oliver found her rambling rather amusing (and he usually lacked patience for people that used way too much words to express what they had in mind), but he still needed to get some sleep, so he felt like a minor intrusion wouldn't come across as being rude. He wasn't sure how long she could keep going if he didn't stop her. And the poor, sick little girl was still crying in the background.

"Uh, Miss…?"

"Oh! Forgive me," she said, realizing that she'd been babbling again. She slid the chain and unlocked it completely, opening the door wide enough for her to see who had called at this unholy hour.

"It's Smoak. Felicity Smoak," she answered while combing through her disheveled hair with her fingers. She looked like she was embarrassed, but she put on a brave face, hoping that she wouldn't come across as the stressed-out single parent that she was, because the man that stood in front of her was not just an ordinary man. He was a _really_ gorgeous guy. He looked quite familiar though, she thought, but she couldn't figure out why.

Oliver, on the other hand, wasn't prepared at all for what emerged from behind the partly opened door. Make-up or no make-up, and in spite of the tousled hair, his new next-door neighbor was a beautiful woman. She looked like an angel, really – an angel wearing matching Star Wars pajamas and had plum-painted fingernails and toe nails.

"Felicity." He nodded once and extended his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you. Mr. Diggle from building security told me that someone had already moved in while I was away."

She shook hands with him briefly. "It's nice to meet you, too, although we could have introduced ourselves under better circumstances than this. I'm truly sorry about my daughter. Did we wake you up or something?" She bit her lower lip as she waited for his answer.

"Honestly, yeah. I'm kind of jet-lagged and was hoping to get some sleep." Oliver rubbed the back of his neck, finding the whole telling-the-truth thing a bit awkward. He didn't want her to feel guiltier than she already was for failing to get her daughter's crying under control for the last few hours.

"Sorry about that," she responded. She felt bad that her daughter's crying had disturbed the handsome neighbor's sleep. She began to think of how she can make it up to him one of these days. She couldn't make him something healthy and delicious to eat because she was terrible in the kitchen. She could buy him a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream and find out if he liked it just as much as she did, but seeing how well-sculpted his pectorals and abs were underneath the thin cotton shirt he wore, she thought it wasn't such a good idea. She could offer to fix his computer if it ever needed fixing, or to set up better Internet or even CCTVs in his unit. That she could do.

Oliver speaking to her broke her out of her internal ramblings. "What is wrong with your daughter anyway? If you don't mind my asking. Maybe I could… help?" He had to ask. He could still hear the baby sobbing and sniffling somewhere inside. He had a younger sister named Thea, and when she was little, he used to be the only one who could calm her down when she was upset about anything, including those times when she was sick. He was confident that he knew a thing or two about caring for infants and toddlers.

Felicity felt a mild blush creeping upwards from her neck to her cheeks. His thoughtfulness made him twice as attractive. "So he's more than just a pretty face," she thought to herself, glad that she hadn't said that out loud, judging from his facial expression.

She replied, "She has a nasty cold virus. Can't breathe. I've tried aspirating. I've tried the cold rub. I've tried improvised steam inhalation. Nothing seems to be working. She keeps complaining about her ears but I can't figure out what she wants. She just won't stop crying."

"Well, have you tried-"

Oliver was about to give a simple advice that worked well with Thea when she was a toddler, but a loud thud from inside followed by an equally loud scream interrupted them.

"Ellie?!" Felicity hollered, as she rushed into the room frantically.

Oliver contemplated for a second if he should just stand there, leave her be to attend to her own problems, or go after her to help. He knew he was a total stranger to her, still. But the little girl was crying and screaming even more loudly now. He couldn't just stand there and do nothing. He took a deep breath and went after Felicity. Like any good neighbor would.

As he rounded the corner from the small living room to the little girl's room that was adjacent to his studio-type unit, the sight he saw before him made his heart ache and his mind panic. The little girl must have tried to climb out of her playpen, and it had toppled over. Ellie was screaming at the top of her lungs as Felicity picked her up from the floor. The little blonde baby had a bleeding cut near her temple that was beginning to swell and bruise. Ellie must have hit her head on the corner of the nearby table when she fell over.

"Oh, Ellie!" Felicity cried, kissing the crown of her little girl's head while caressing her back to calm her down. "Mommy's here. It's gonna be okay." Felicity gently swayed to soothe the child, but it wasn't working.

Oliver was about to ask, "Is she gonna be okay?" but thought better of it. The red streaks from Ellie's injury were already starting to drip on Felicity's shoulder. So instead he decided to do something helpful. "I'm gonna go get some ice. Do you have a first aid kit or something?"

"Yeah," Felicity replied. There's ice in the fridge, and the kit is in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Thanks!"

Oliver moved quickly. After grabbing some ice cubes from the kitchen, he dashed into the bathroom to get a fresh, clean towel and wrapping the ice in it. He then looked for the first aid kit and found it in the medicine cabinet like Felicity had said. He was back in the child's nursery in no time.

Felicity tried to put Ellie down so that they could attend to her injury, but the little girl would not have it. She screamed and kicked until her mother gave up. "Okay, okay, sweetcakes. Mommy's got you." Ellie was still crying, but the screaming and kicking stopped. She maneuvered her little girl's head such that her uninjured temple rested gently on her mother's shoulder.

"Can you manage?" Felicity asked Oliver. By now she sensed he was only there to help, which was exactly what she needed at the moment.

"Sure, no problem," he answered with a smile.

Oliver went to work, carefully cleaning Ellie's cut with cotton and an antiseptic. Soon, he was covering her cut with gauze and some band aids. "I think that should do for now until we can get her to a hospital," he said as he began to clean up.

"Hospital? Do we really need to? I mean, you've done a pretty good job patching her up," Felicity said.

"The cut is pretty deep, I think she'll need a couple of stitches. Let's just hope the band aids and gauze will hold until we can get to the E.R."

Oliver paused. He could see on Felicity's face that she was hesitant to act on his suggestion to take her daughter to the hospital. "I don't want to sound alarming or to cause even more worry," he added, "but I think a doctor should take a look at her injury. They should run some tests, too. You know, just to make sure she doesn't have a concussion or something."

Felicity's forehead crinkled as she considered his suggestion, which really made sense. After a few seconds, she answered, "I guess it won't hurt to take her. Better safe than sorry, right?"

Oliver smiled and nodded. "Yeah," he agreed.

"So… uh… I'm just gonna go change into something more appropriate for going to a hospital. Can you take her? I won't take long," she requested.

"Sure," he replied. "That is if you're sure she won't mind." Oliver wanted to make sure that Ellie won't cry even more if she left her with him.

"Well, I can't guarantee that. Ellie doesn't warm up to strangers that easily, especially since we're new in town and haven't really met new friends since we moved here. But we don't have a choice, do we? She will definitely cry harder if I put her down."

"Guess you're right," he said, moving to take the little girl from her mother's arms.

Surprisingly, Ellie let him take her even if she was still sobbing and sniffling. Felicity thought it strange how her little girl warmed up so easily to their next-door neighbor. Come to think of it, she had warmed up so easily to him, too, from their very first conversation at the door. Oliver wasn't too difficult to like. He seemed kind, gentle, and friendly – qualities that she noticed despite his jetlag, and beyond his really good looks.

By the time Felicity came back to the nursery, Ellie had stopped crying and had fallen asleep in Oliver's arms. Her baby girl's head laid on his shoulder, her curly blonde hair partly covering her face. Oliver had his back turned against the door, so he hadn't noticed her standing there. He was busy rubbing circles on Ellie's back, swaying from side to side.

Before Felicity took another step towards them, she stopped short. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was it possible, or were her ears playing tricks on her? In the stillness of the night, she could hear Oliver's soft voice singing to Ellie as he rocked her daughter to sleep.

" _Hush, little baby, don't say a word, your mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird won't sing, Ol'ver's gonna buy you a diamond ring…"_

Felicity's heart melted. Who was this man that had walked into her and her daughter's life? She was so glad that Ellie had the strong arms of a seemingly wonderful man carrying her then, and that her little girl had a shoulder to cry on, even just for a while. Ellie was growing up without her daddy; she hadn't even met him.

As she remembered their loss, a lone tear fell from the corner of her eye, and she instantly wiped it away with her finger. For a moment there, she wondered how it must feel like to cry on her neighbor's shoulder. He did have pretty broad and sturdy shoulders, she thought.

Felicity somehow snapped out of her sad thoughts. She cleared her throat and spoke, "Ready?"

Oliver turned around and nodded. "Here, take her. Let me go get my car keys. I'll drive you to the hospital."

"Thanks," she said, as she carefully and slowly took Ellie from his arms. "I'm just gonna grab the baby bag, and I'll meet you at the elevator. Okay?"

"Okay."

Oliver left mother and daughter and headed back to his unit. "There goes my hard-earned sleep," he thought to himself. Yet deep down inside, something told him that foregoing sleep in favor of being with two lovely little ladies was going to be worth it. The last half hour has certainly been. He locked the door of his condo unit, unaware that he was glowing, with a grin that he couldn't wipe off his face even if he tried.

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 **A/N: So what did you think. Let me know.**


	2. Chapter 2: Felicity cries

**CRY ON MY SHOULDER**

 **Chapter 2 - Felicity cries.**

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 ** _A/N: The neighbors turn out to be co-workers and are fast becoming friends. Stuff happens, and they end up in the E.R. again._**

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Three weeks had passed since Oliver spent the wee hours of the morning in the E.R. with Felicity and her daughter Ellie. What began as a simple Good Samaritan deed for his next-door neighbor had turned into friendship between the two of them. They'd greet each other in the hallway or the elevator. Twice Oliver had already offered to watch Ellie when she needed to do quick errands in the neighborhood, and once Felicity got the chance to repay his kindness by doing some upgrades on his laptop and optimizing his smart phone's features for his work needs.

Oliver was beginning to really like his bright, bubbly, blonde neighbor (and her baby girl), and he has been hoping that the feeling was mutual. Unknown to him, Felicity, too, has been looking forward to every chance she could get to see her tall, handsome, and thoughtful neighbor, short of actually making up reasons for her and Ellie to see him more often.

Felicity was glad that she didn't have to do that. Imagine their mutual delight when they had found out that they worked in the same company.

That night in the E.R. after the doctor had finished stitching up Ellie, the imaging results had come out negative for a concussion; however, the doctor still wanted to keep the little girl until the morning for observation. Despite their weariness, Oliver and Felicity could not sleep like Ellie had on the hospital bed, so they had spent the waiting hours just talking. They had really enjoyed other's company, especially since it involved two cups of coffee for each of them. They had laughed at the coincidence that they both worked at Queen Consolidated and lived in the same building.

"Wait, where did you say you worked at?" Oliver asked, interrupting Felicity's babbling about how excited she was, working on a new upgrade for her company's cybersecurity. She had mentioned that the reason why she moved to Starling City was because she just got hired a month ago when her former MIT professor recommended her to the CEO, Robert Queen.

"Queen Consolidated," she replied, curious as to Oliver's reaction. "Something wrong?"

"No! Absolutely not!" he responded. "Actually, everything's just right," he muttered to himself, hoping she wouldn't hear it. "It's just that, I happen to work there, too. It's… it's actually my family's company," he explained with a bit of shyness. He didn't want her to think he was bragging. He also didn't know how she would react once she puts the pieces together and realizes who he really is.

"Oh…" It took a moment for Felicity to process the information. "So… you're the infamous billionaire-playboy, Oliver Queen." She pursed her lips, and then took a deep breath. "Right now, I really don't know what to make of that."

She was quietly assessing him, like running a virus scan on her computers to check for malware and spyware and other potential threats. Oliver, on the other hand, could not breathe, as he waited for her assessment of the awkward situation. He really didn't want this budding friendship nipped so early on.

"And why is that?" he asked.

"Because… I think that the spoiled brat I've read about once or twice before from my mom's gossip magazines is not the same gentleman that had just gone the extra mile for his next-door neighbor and her troubled child. I just hope it stays that way," she answered, with a glint in her eye that he had not failed to notice.

Oliver blew out the breath that he'd been holding. Good. He was relieved that, at least, she was willing to give him a chance to get to know her.

"It will. The gossip column guy is looooong gone. This gentleman's been trying hard to do things differently," he clarified with a wink.

"Good to know," Felicity said, as she flashed him a smile that showed him her dimples for the first time, and Oliver nearly fell off his chair.

Today, they're both attending a meeting with the top executives of QC. It surprises them, actually, because they hadn't mentioned the meeting when they passed each other at the lobby of their building that morning, but the presence of the other made the usually boring presentation in mundane office functions more pleasant and bearable for them both.

Oliver steals glances at his favorite blonde whenever she was too engrossed with looking at the statistical data on the screen to notice. When she gets up to do her presentation of the cybersecurity enhancements to their IT system, he was all ears. And eyes. Never in his life had a company presentation become so interesting to Oliver than at that moment. He thinks he could listen to her talk all day.

A minute after Felicity returns to her seat, his phone buzzes, so he pulls it out from the pocket of his jacket. It's a text message from Felicity and it reads: _Caught you staring. More than once. Not polite. Pay attention to the presentations, Mr. Queen._ There's even an emoji at the end, winking at him. He grins and tries to hide it. The other executives might mistake him for a fool. Maybe he is becoming a fool. Is he? This amazing woman is driving him nuts.

Speaking of nuts…

Just as the meeting is about to end, one of the executive assistants enters the conference room and hands Felicity a note. Oliver notices it and is concerned that Felicity suddenly looks anxious and asks to be excused. As soon as she leaves the room, he takes leave as well and follows her all the way to the elevator.

"Felicity, wait!" he calls out. "Is there a problem?" he asks as she catches up with her.

She turns, and when she sees it's him, she decides to share her pressing concern. "It's Ellie," she said, her face filled with worry and her voice shaking a bit. "Day Care called. They asked me to come down. A new girl made the terrible mistake of giving her a piece of brownie with nuts on top. She's having an allergic reaction. They've taken her to the clinic."

"Clinic's at the basement. I'll take you there," he says, guiding her into the elevator with his hand on her elbow and his other hand on the small of her back. If she isn't so worried about her baby girl, she would be blushing already and having goosebumps at his touch.

When Felicity and Oliver arrive at the clinic, the nurse on duty had just used the Epi pen on Ellie. The nurse explains that the senior staff of the company's Day Care had retrieved it from the little girl's bag. Soon Ellie is asleep on one of the beds there. Felicity took a few seconds to breathe.

"Would you like us to take her to the hospital?" Oliver asks her. He could see that the worst is over, and that the medicine would soon kick in. But with the redness of Ellie's face, her puffy eyes, and lips that have begun to swell, he thinks that it's better to be safe than sorry.

"Yes, please. I'd feel so much better if we did," Felicity replies.

Half an hour later, they are sitting in the waiting room of the same E.R. again. Oliver hands her a cup of freshly brewed coffee from the cafeteria. He had learned from their previous conversation that caffeine somehow has an oddly calming effect on her nerves. She, on the other hand, has a certifiably calming effect on his.

"Two trips to the E.R. in less than a month," she sighs. "Ellie must be trying to set a new record or something." She chuckles.

Oliver thinks it's a good sign that she's able to joke about it now. He smiles. "I've noticed. Even my sister Thea didn't visit the hospital this much when she was little."

"Thank you for being there for us again, Oliver. You just seem to be in the right place at the right time, I suppose."

"Yeah, I'm glad I could be of assistance."

There's just silence for a few minutes as they sit beside each other.

Oliver finally breaks the ice and asks, "Has Ellie always been this way? Accident-prone, I mean." His voice tapers off towards the end. He isn't sure how she will take his observation.

Apparently, she takes it well. "Oh no," she replies quickly. "This has never happened before when we were back in Vegas. And even if it did, I'd have help. We were living with my mom, and it was a pretty good arrangement. I had an instant sitter that I could trust."

Oliver just listens. He wants to really get to know her more.

"I knew that moving here would be difficult since I didn't really know anyone. But your company's offer… I just couldn't resist. The opportunity was simply too good to pass, so I took it, even if I knew I'd have a harder time with Ellie and all. It's just so hard, you know? Me having to do all of this on my own. I wish they had a course on single parenting back in college. I might have aced that one, too, if I'd known ahead of time that this was going to happen to me."

Oliver is delighted that she is opening up to him on her own, at her own pace. She seemed at ease with him, and he really appreciated that.

"Felicity, I hope you don't mind me asking, and I wish you won't take this the wrong way," Oliver ventures to ask, "but, why is it that you're doing this all on your own?"

Felicity's smart enough to figure out what he's really asking. She's quiet for a few seconds, hesitant to divulge her past to someone that measured somewhere between a really good acquaintance and a fairly new friend. She looks into his eyes to gauge his level of sincerity, and when she decides she's willing to trust him a little bit more, she replies, "Other than my mom, I've got no one else. I'm an only child, and my dad left us when I was seven, so my mom raised me on her own. That's why I know how hard it is. I just can't believe it had to happen to me, too."

She looks at him once more. She can see from the expression on his face that he's very curious to learn more. "I guess you're wondering where Ellie's father is?" she dares to ask.

Oliver simply smiles. He isn't going to push, but if she volunteers the answer, he won't refuse to hear her out.

"He… he's gone," she begins to explain. "I met Billy where my mom works as a cocktail waitress in Vegas. He worked for the FBI. We dated for a couple of months while he was on an extended assignment in Nevada. But we weren't being wise and responsible, and we got carried away a couple of times… I… I was about to tell him that I was pregnant when he was sent to join an operation… that went south… and cost him his life. And that's why I'm still a Smoak, with my own pretty little Smoak. Sad story, huh?"

She frowns, averting her eyes from the intense look of his gorgeous blue ones. She expects judgment or pity, because that's what the few people to whom she had previously shared her story with had shown her.

But he doesn't judge her. He doesn't give her a condescending look. He simply smiles tenderly, compassionately. He puts his hand on her knee and tells her, "I understand how it is. To fail, I mean. To make such a huge mess that you can't get out of, and to live with the consequences of less-than-prudent choices. I got a girl pregnant once, when I was still in college. She miscarried. And that's just one of the troubles I've gotten myself into because I wasn't thinking straight. I've had people judge me, and many times, I truly deserved it. But I've been learning from my mistakes, and I'm thankful that I've been given a chance to start over. My mom and dad gave me one more chance to finish my college degree, and then I had to start from the ranks in QC."

He's speechless for a beat, because she places her hand on top of the hand he placed on her knee earlier. Their hands shift until they find a more comfortable position, and they end up with their fingers intertwined.

"QC was my second chance," Oliver adds. "I think, maybe Ellie is your chance to start over."

Felicity's lips turn up to form a shy, hesitant smile. Her tears fall, too. When she looks up to meet Oliver's gaze, all she sees is the sincerity and empathy that laced the thought-provoking words he had just spoken. She doesn't think twice. She lets her head rest on his shoulder, and she cries softly.

The next thing she knows is that Oliver's arm comes up from behind her, and he drapes it across her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. They stay that way until Ellie wakes up an hour later.

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 _ **A/N: So, tell me what you think?**_ _ **In the last chapter, it's Oliver's turn to cry.**_


	3. Chapter 3: Oliver cries

**Cry on My Shoulder**

 **Chapter 3: Oliver cries.**

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 **A/N: With the right amount of coaxing, and another visit to a medical facility, Oliver finally makes the move to take his relationship with Felciity to the next level. Without further ado, the final chapter to this AU ficlet. Enjoy!**

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In the months that followed the two incidents when Ellie had to be rushed to the E.R., Oliver and Felicity's friendship has grown, much like little Ellie has grown.

In time, they've become more than mere neighbors that do each other favors. They practically go in and out of each other's condo units like they were family. They have each other's names on their speed dial. Oliver comes over to cook dinner for the three of them; Felicity comes over to help him with his tech needs. They've even done laundry together a few times. They've spent weekends doing movie marathons (with or without Ellie), shopping for groceries and Ellie's needs, and sometimes taking the little girl to the park, the zoo, or children's museums and recreational facilities. It's also worth mentioning that both Oliver and Felicity have been glad that they haven't had to visit the E.R. of Starling General because of Ellie for the past six months.

Oliver and Felicity also see each other every day at QC and have developed a distinct synergy after working as partners on three consecutive projects personally assigned to them once by CFO Walter Steele, and twice by CEO Robert Queen, Oliver's father.

Two months ago, Oliver was promoted to Vice President for Corporate Affairs. His mother Moira has been more than proud of her son's promotion and recent accomplishments. Twice she has expressed to her husband that perhaps their son's inspiration to excel in his career (to the advantage of their company) can be attributed to a certain blonde who possessed beauty, brains, and an impressive inner brawn – a rare combination that the Queen matriarch has been looking for in a future daughter-in-law. Moira would have frankly told Oliver so, before he and Felicity even started working on their third project together, but Robert wisely advised her not to spoil things by meddling or teasing. She acquiesced, of course, knowing full well that their daughter Thea can definitely manage with the teasing for the both of them.

And teased, Thea has. Every time she chanced upon her brother grinning while reading a text or talking to someone on the phone, she'd corner him into admitting that Felicity is the one on the other end of the line. Whenever she'd drop by QC and find the two of them in the same work space, she'd drop a subtle remark here and there, which she knew her brother would pick up easily.

One time a couple of weeks ago, Thea had passed by his condo unit and noticed him all groomed up and smelling nice and ready to head out. To the unit next door.

"You really should ask your cute, cool neighbor out, you know," Thea had said. "Feigning offers to babysit is getting you nowhere."

"We're just good friends, Speedy," Oliver had said, like he says to anyone who notices and asks. "And for the record, I love babysitting Ellie. She's a wonderful kid."

In all honesty, he does love watching over and taking care of Ellie. To his credit, the little girl has not only grown accustomed to having him around; she absolutely adores him.

"Wonderful, huh? Like her mom?" Thea had baited a candid question.

"Yeah!" Oliver had enthusiastically replied without thinking. As soon as he'd realized that his response was exactly what his sister had been expecting, he added, "What I mean is, Ellie gets a lot of her wonderful traits from her mother."

"Mm-hmm… Traits that have you falling head over heels for the bigger of the two blondes," Thea remarked with a smirk that she could no longer hold back.

"Thea…" Oliver's tone had become lower than what it used to be a moment ago.

"Ollie, you can deny it all you want, but I know you. This time, it's different with Felicity. She's good for you. I can tell."

Oliver's brows had crinkled in curiosity and fascination. "What makes you say that?"

"You're kidding, right?" Thea had asked, rolling her eyes in disbelief. She'd always known that her brother can sometimes be clueless, but she couldn't believe he'd be so dense when it comes to his love life.

When Oliver remained speechless and clueless, she pressed on. "The fact that you still have to ask that question just means that you're falling for her so fast, that you can't even stop to notice what it's doing _to_ you, _for_ you. Ollie, everybody else but you, can see that your friendship with Felicity is making you a better person. If I were to testify in court, I'd be willing to give a sworn statement attesting to that fact!"

Thea paused for a while to take a breath. One second later, she barreled on. "Face it, bro, you have feelings for her. You care about her, in ways you haven't for any other girl you've attempted to be serious with and failed. Sooner or later, someone with more guts than you, is going to ask her out. And you're going to regret not making a move while you still can. A smart, attractive woman like Felicity isn't going to stay a single mom for long."

Thea's words that day has had Oliver tossing and turning in bed for more than a week. He knew she'd made a good point and had dared to present a challenge, but he still couldn't bring himself to do something about it. Who can blame him? He hasn't had any success so far with his previous relationships, not even with his long-time on-again-off-again ex-girlfriend Laurel Lance. But when his friend John Diggle, the head of building security finally spoke up and gave him his ten cents worth of unsolicited love life advice, Oliver had finally decided to man up and make a move.

* * *

Ellie is turning two in a couple of days. As far as Oliver knows, Felicity still hasn't made any plans to celebrate her daughter's birthday. He thinks that it's mainly because they have no family in Starling City to celebrate with. To the best of his knowledge, the only friends that she has made so far are him and his family, the Diggles, his best friend Tommy Merlyn, Walter Steele, and a handful of people at work. Felicity has not had the chance to connect meaningfully with any of the parents of the kids at the QC Day Care because of her many responsibilities in the company. Hence, there really weren't a lot of people and kids to invite to a birthday party.

So, Oliver comes up with a brilliant idea.

Felicity's phone rings at half passed noon. She had planned for her lunch hour to be a working break because of a deadline at the end of the day, but when she sees Oliver's name and picture on the screen, she is all too eager to take the call.

"Hi!" she greets him.

"Hey!" Oliver greets her back. He's smiling from ear to ear, and it's unfortunate she doesn't get to see it. "I hope I'm not interrupting a working lunch?"

"You know me too well," Felicity replies with a chuckle. "But it's fine. What's up?" She's blushing like ripe cherry, and it's unfortunate he doesn't get to see it.

"Well, Ellie's birthday is in two days, but I don't recall you mentioning anything about how you plan to celebrate. Do you… Do you have plans this weekend?" Oliver asked a bit shyly, with all the courage he could muster inside him. As her latest "unofficial best friend," he already knows she doesn't have plans, but he asks just the same.

There's just silence for a few seconds, and Oliver can't breathe as his chest tightens in suspense.

"No… None so far," Felicity finally answers. As his latest "unofficial best friend," she knows that he knows she doesn't have plans, but she appreciates him asking anyway.

"My mom called last night. She's supposed to fly in from Vegas to visit and celebrate Ellie's birthday. But this morning, her friend from work that usually covers for her shifts, suddenly has a death in the family, so it's actually my mom now who's covering for her for the next three to four days."

She pauses, hesitant to continue, but then she hazards a question that hopefully gets a desired response. "Why do you ask?"

"Uh… I was just thinking… and you can actually say no if… if it's not cool with you. I mean, I don't want to impose. It's just that… I thought it would be nice if… you know…"

"Oliver," she interrupts, "usually it's me who talks in sentence fragments."

"Sorry…"

"It's okay. What's on your mind?" Felicity is dying of excitement, and trying her best to hide it.

"Well, I thought it would be nice if I could take you and Ellie out of state to celebrate her birthday. The forecast this weekend is perfect for a day at the Pine Crest Water Park and another day at Pine Crest Playland." There, that wasn't so hard, Oliver thinks. He lets out a slow breath through his mouth.

Felicity's heart is pounding in her chest in elation at the thought of her and Ellie spending an entire weekend with Oliver. Yes, they've spent weekends together before, but this is the first time he's proposing an out-of-town trip. It's not exactly "asking her out," since Ellie would be there the entire trime, but it thrills her just the same. She tries to compose herself for a second or two, and then she tells him, "It's a great idea. I think Ellie's gonna to love it!" Perhaps not as much as she would.

"Great!" Oliver happily remarks, and suddenly he finds himself standing and pacing in his office. "I'm glad this works out. Listen, we can talk more about the trip later. I think right now I should ask my assistant to book us the tickets for the Water Park and the Playland. Those sell out pretty quick on weekends."

"Okay, yeah! And thanks, in advance. Ellie's going to have a really good time," Felicity thanks him.

"Anytime. And I'm driving. Rob is visiting his folks this weekend, plus I think it's not really ethical to be asking my company-assigned driver to go on non-work-related out-of-town trips."

Felicity doesn't mind. Not at all. She certainly does not want Rob tagging along.

"Oh, you don't have to drive to and from. We can take turns. Pine Crest is what, three to four hours away?" she offers.

"It's fine. I'll drive," he declines politely. "You just sit tight and mind Ellie, make sure she's comfortable. After all, she's the birthday girl."

Felicity bites her lower lip as butterflies dance in her stomach. She wonders when this amazing, thoughtful, and caring guy started getting under her skin. Truth be told, she has been hoping that one of these days, he'd find the courage to ask her out. Just her, and not just as friends.

"You sure do know how to spoil your girls," Felicity remarks without putting much thought into it. When she realizes what she's just said, she fumbles over how to redeem herself. "By _girls_ , I was referring to me and my daughter as members of the female species. And by _your girls_ , I meant that we are two of your many female friends. Not that I consider myself and my little girl as _yours,_ yours. There isn't any particular reason why this crazy brain of mine should think that way. Right? I mean, we _are_ good friends, very good friends actually, so why would you-"

Oliver is amused by her babbling as always, but he decides to cut it short before she embarrasses herself any further. "Felicity, it's okay. I understand what you meant. And by the way, I do like the idea of calling you _my girls_. Because in more ways than one, you both are."

Felicity is stunned. Her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline and her jaw drops at his words. She doesn't know what to make of them. She doesn't want to read too much into it, and she gropes for words as seconds of wordless silence stretches between them. She takes a deep breath and opens her mouth, but all she can come up with is this: "O-kay… If you say so…"

Their conversation ends soon, and as they hang up, the feeling is mutual. Though both are giddy with excitement, they're also unsure of whether or not something has just shifted between them. No matter, both of them thought that they have an entire weekend to figure things out.

* * *

The whole day they spent yesterday at the Water Park was a blast! Ellie loved the wave pool and spent most of her swim time there. She also got on the inflatable raft that went down the long slide with her mom and Oliver, squealing with glee as they dropped from forty feet high. She had so much fun! Felicity couldn't get enough pictures of her daughter in her two-piece, emerald green, polka dot bikini, with matching green sunglasses.

Oliver, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of staring at _his girls_ all day. Just looking at them having fun, laughing, and splashing away – it filled up his love tank in a way he's never experienced before. Thea was right all along, and John Diggle too. He's crazy about the two blondes, especially the older one. In fact – and now he admits it to himself – he's in love with her. When they packed their stuff into the car and got ready to head back to the cabin he had rented for them at Pine Crest, he made a mental note to ask her out to dinner at long last and tell her just how much she means to him.

Today, though, Oliver is preoccupied with making sure that she and Ellie would enjoy their last few hours at Playland before they drive back to Starling City tonight. They've already seen all the attractions and gone on all the rides that a two-year-old is allowed to be on. Felicity wants to check out the souvenir shop, but Ellie prefers to stay a little longer on the toddlers' gym, so Oliver offered to stay with her while Felicity shopped. Felicity thanks him, and they agree that he and Ellie will catch up with her at the souvenir shop, and then together they'll have some snacks before they head back home.

Half an hour later, Oliver convinces Ellie to quit the toddlers' gym, and they both go looking for Felicity at the souvenir shop. When they get there, the shop is crowded, as most of the Playland visitors are doing their last-minute purchases before closing time. Oliver parks the stroller at the entrance of the shop and picks up Ellie to spare the little girl from having to squeeze her way through the crowded store. They wander around for a little bit in search of Felicity, and as soon as the little girl sees her mother's signature ponytail near the souvenir toys area, she yells, "Mommy! Mommy!"

Ellie squirms and insists on getting down. Oliver doesn't see Felicity though, because he's looking the other way. He turns around and looks in the direction that Ellie is pointing to, but before he is able to spot Felicity, Ellie pushes him away and attempts to break free. He lets her and puts her down, but the sudden movement and the rude nudging of a teenage boy passing behind him makes him lose his footing, and he knocks off a stack of souvenir canned candies.

"Ellie, wait! Ellie!" Oliver hollers, as he tries to catch some of the cans and prevents the rest from falling to the floor. Ellie ignores him like any child in the "terrible two" phase, running off in the direction that she _thought_ she'd seen her mom. It takes Oliver a couple more seconds to put a few of the cans back on the stack, and then he takes off like a sprinter in a race to go after the little girl.

A full minute passes by, and then another, and another. Every second that ticks by, his chest constricts more and more. Oliver scours the huge shop from one end to the other, but there is no Ellie in sight. Has he lost Ellie? Good heavens, no! Please, no. He's worried, and he hopes against hope that Ellie has found her mom somewhere in this over-crowded shop. Except, when he decides to turn and go back to where he's last seen Ellie, he sees Felicity approaching him instead. No Ellie.

"Oliver, there you are! Where's Ellie?" Felicity asks him.

"I… She…" he attempts an answer but fails. He knows she's beginning to sense that something's wrong. Anxiety is slowly showing on her face.

"Oliver, where's Ellie?" she asks again, and this time, her trembling voice betrays her worry.

"She thought she saw you from afar and wanted to get down and go to you. But when I put her down, some kid pushed and I lost my balance, accidentally knocking off some candy cans. I tried to catch some, but Ellie ran off. The next thing I knew, she… she was gone. I've been trying to find her, but… but you found me first. I'm sorry, Felicity. I'm so, so sorry," Oliver apologizes. His heart is breaking into a million pieces as he breaks the dreadful news to the woman he plans to start dating. He feels awful that Ellie has gone missing under his watch.

Meanwhile, Felicity isn't sure how to react. She's upset that her daughter is missing, and worse, the only person she can blame is the marvelous man she has fallen in love with. But she doesn't want to blame him for Ellie running off like a speedster in the DC universe. She knows how her daughter gets sometimes. She wants to get mad, but she reins in the emotion. Oliver didn't intend for this to happen, and he has always taken good care of her little girl. As she holds back the tears that are beginning to cloud her vision, she manages to stay calm and say to him, "It's not your fault, Oliver. We can talk about it later, but right now, we have to find Ellie. She couldn't have gotten far."

Felicity knows Ellie couldn't have gotten far; she just doesn't want to entertain the possibility that someone might have taken her. She does not want to go there.

"Right. Should we go looking for her together, or should we split up?" Oliver asks, wanting her to take the lead this time.

"We can cover more ground if we split up. Call me if you find her or if you have a lead, and I'll do the same," she replies.

Oliver nods.

Felicity walks away, but before she could get far, a woman's voice is heard on the theme park's P.A. system. "Paging the parents of a lost little girl, about two years old with curly blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a pink shirt and denim overalls. Please proceed to the infirmary beside the administration office." The announcement is repeated, and both Oliver and Felicity stay frozen in their spots to make sure they got the information right.

Just as the second announcement fades, Oliver walks to where Felicity is and places his hand on her shoulder. "That's Ellie," she says. "I bet it is. Let's go get her," Oliver tells her.

* * *

Oliver and Felicity barely steps into the reception area of the infirmary when they hear the ear-piercing cries and screams of a little girl. From the sounds alone, they know it's Ellie. "We're here for the little girl you paged the parents for. I'm her mother," Felicity informs the receptionist behind the front desk. After showing the older woman some identification, the lady kindly directs them to the second door down the short corridor. Oliver opens the door for them, and as soon as Ellie sees them, something completely unpredictable happened.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Ellie cries, her arms reaching out in Oliver's direction.

Felicity's eyes widen like a deer caught in the headlights. She stood at the doorway, and suddenly, her worry is replaced by astonishment. On the other hand, Oliver anxiously darts across the room and closes the distance between him and Ellie. In just a few strides, Ellie is safe in his arms and he can finally breathe. "Oh, Ellie! I thought I'd lost you," he says sweetly.

The nurse that was looking after Ellie smiles at the reunion and leaves the little girl's side. She walks towards Felicity holding a clipboard with the release papers for her to sign. "Thank you for coming so fast, Mom. Apparently, a kind stranger in the souvenir shop found her wandering around, crying, and alerted Security. They wanted to make sure she's not hurt or anything, so they brought her here. I've checked her out, and she's perfectly fine, but I couldn't get her to tell me her name. She's been crying and asking for her daddy ever since she got here."

Felicity still can't believe her ears. But the nurse hands her the clipboard with a form to fill out, so she has to say something in response. "Her name's Ellie, Ellie Smoak." Then Felicity looks at her daughter, snuggling into Oliver's chest, her head nesting between his shoulder and neck. She's already beginning to calm down as Oliver rubs her back and whispers something into her ears. She wants so much to listen to what he's telling her daughter, but she has a form to fill out.

"Aww… She's Daddy's girl," the nurse comments, making a puppy dog face at the adorable sight before them.

Felicity is quick to correct the nurse's mistaken assumption, "Oh, he's not her-"

However, she stops short when she sees Oliver crying. She blinks once, twice, to make sure she's not seeing things. But he is. He is crying. Oliver's tears are rolling down his cheeks. She's not just dumbfounded, she's overwhelmed – too overwhelmed she forgets all about clarifying the nurse's misconception.

Unknown to her, Oliver feels overwhelmed, too. The moment he walked into the room, his eyes became glassy with tears. Ellie leapt into in his arms, and as soon as he caught her, the dam broke. He rested his chin on _his_ little girl's shoulder and cried. He cried because he felt so relieved that they've found Ellie and that nothing bad had happened to her. He cried because he felt so honored and proud upon hearing Ellie call him Daddy. He cried because now, more than ever, he wants this little girl in his arms – and her wonderful, beautiful mother – to really be _his_. Loving these two – he could do this for the rest of his life.

Felicity completes the paperwork, and soon, Ellie is released and they walk out of the infirmary with million-dollar smiles on their faces. After a heavy snack of pizza, pasta, and milk shakes, they check out of their rented cabin and head for home.

* * *

The drive back to Starling City is quiet and uneventful. Ellie slept through most of it, thankfully. All the crying and the drama sure did tire her out.

When they reach the city, they decide to go straight to Felicity's condo and just order Chinese since they're both too tired to make dinner. Their dinner arrives in record time, and Oliver immediately gets to work preparing the food and setting the table while Felicity puts Ellie to bed and unpacks.

Not much conversation happens over dinner. They're both just as spent as the little lady sleeping soundly in her nursery. But Felicity thinks that their wonderful weekend getaway deserves to be capped by a simple celebration, since they got home safe and sound despite the scare earlier in the afternoon. She stands up and brings out a bottle of red wine and two wine glasses.

"Join me?" she asks Oliver, who immediately answers, "Glad to." In spite of the tiredness they both felt, which also showed on their faces, she thinks he has the most gorgeous smile in the world.

They move to the living room and settle on the couch. Oliver takes the bottle and pours wine for the both of them. "What shall be drink to?" he asks her.

"To Ellie," she replies.

"To Ellie," he says, lifting his glass. "Happy Birthday, munchkin."

After a few swigs, Oliver speaks. "I'm so glad we found her. And again, I'm very sorry for what hap-"

Felicity is having none of his guilt-tripping and interrupts him, "Oliver, please stop feeling guilty about what happened. I'm not blaming you or anything. Sometimes things like this just happen. Ellie's fine. We're fine."

Oliver smiles at her. "Thank you. Shall we drink to _us_ , then?" he asks with a twinkle in his eye. He's liking the direction this conversation is taking, and he is definitely taking the opportunity to bare his heart.

Felicity takes the hint, but she wants to make sure she understands him clearly. "What about _us_ are we toasting to exactly?"

"Well, for starters, there's our friendship, which I truly appreciate and value."

Felicity nods and takes a sip of her wine. She doesn't say anything, hoping that he doesn't stop at that. And when he speaks further, she sighs in relief.

"Then, there's you, and there's me. And quite frankly, I'm hoping that there could be an _us_."

Felicity gasps, not just at his words, but because Oliver moved and leaned closer to her. She watched his fingers crawl on top of the fabric of the couch until they touched hers, and she willingly opened her hand so that they could intertwine their fingers. She then shifts her gaze from their joined hands to his face.

"Oliver, what are you saying?"

"Felicity, since I met you months ago, that night when Ellie's crying woke me up, my life has never been the same. The more I got to know you, and Ellie, the more I realized how precious you are and how much I need someone like you in my life. And while I do cherish our friendship, I'd like for us to be more than just friends. I'm in love with you, Felicity Smoak. And if you feel the same way – I'm hoping that you feel the same way – I'd like to ask you to consider being in a committed relationship with me. Because I'm 100% in this for the long haul. With you. With you and Ellie."

Felicity looks him straight in the eyes, and he sees the tears sparkling in her eyes. The tears don't fall, because she smiles instead of cries. At that moment, he already knows her answer.

"Well, you've already actually called us _your_ girls. And since Ellie pretty much already thinks you're her daddy, I don't think I'm left with much of a choice," she says with a chuckle. She puts down her wine glass on the coffee table, takes his wine glass from his other hand and puts it on the table as well. She then leans into him more closely until their knees are touching, and cups his scruffy jawline with the palms of her hands. With much affection and eager anticipation, she tells him, "The answer's yes. I'd love to be in a relationship with you, Oliver. Because I'm in love with you, too."

"Good to know…" is all Oliver is able to say. For in a split-second, their lips instinctively find each other and connect in a passionate kiss…

…which is cut short by the sound of Ellie crying in her room.

"I guess, I better go see what's wrong," Felicity says, smiling shyly as they pull back from the kiss. Nothing she could do can hide the blush that's crept from her neck up to her face.

"I guess you should," Oliver responds, giving her one last kiss on her nose before letting her go.

Whatever is wrong, they both wish it doesn't involve them having to bring her to another E.R. or clinic or infirmary. Not that they're complaining. Ellie's episodes have brought them closer to each other, but they really don't want their relationship growing at her expense.

It turns out that their wish is granted. For the next two years, Oliver and Felicity don't set foot in another medical facility on account of Ellie. The next time they do, however, is because he accompanies her to her first sonogram, three months after they're married.

 ***** THE END *****

* * *

 **A/N: That wraps the story up. If you liked it, please let me know. Thank you for reading, following, and/or favorite-ing this. It's been fun!**


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